Two pathologies drive the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Early on, amyloid beta plaques lead the way, but around the time cognitive symptoms arise, tau tangles take over as the driving force and cognition steadily declines. Tracking the course of the disease in individual patients has been challenging because there’s been no easy way to measure […]
Derek E. Byers, MD, PhD, has been named executive chair of the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at Washington University in St. Louis. He will begin in his new role Aug. 1. The IRB is the multidisciplinary group that reviews and approves protocols for research studies that involve human subjects. The group is responsible for protecting the rights […]
Philip R. O. Payne, a global leader in informatics and data science, has been named an inaugural Janet and Bernard Becker Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Among his many leadership roles, Payne oversees the university’s Institute for Informatics, Data Science and Biostatistics as well as the Bernard Becker Medical Library. This professorship was […]
Pain from an injured back, shoulder or hip can make a person feel frustrated, anxious or even depressed. Many in health care may assume that when such injuries heal, mental health also improves. But a new study led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis indicates that over the long term, […]
In this episode, we discuss new research into psychedelic drugs as potential therapies for psychiatric illness. Several studies have suggested that drugs, such as psilocybin, may be useful in treating problems such as post-traumatic stress disorder, addiction and depression. Psychiatry researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have been using a brain-imaging […]
A new study from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis suggests that growing up in poverty may influence the wiring of a child’s brain. The study, published June 27 in JAMA Network Open, indicates a link between both neighborhood and household poverty and the brain’s white matter tracts, which allow for communication between […]
Physicians who engage in research play a vital role in developing novel, innovative approaches to diagnosing and treating disease. Nurturing the careers of doctors whose work takes them to both patients’ bedsides and the laboratory bench is a top priority of the Division of Physician-Scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Such was the […]
People in the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s disease — after brain changes have begun but before cognitive symptoms become apparent — harbor an assortment of bacteria in their intestines that differs from the gut bacteria of healthy people, according to a study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The findings, […]
Ting Wang, PhD, a national leader in genetics and genomics who has led groundbreaking studies in how the genome is regulated, has been named head of the Department of Genetics at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. A computational biologist, he will begin his new role Aug. 1. Wang’s lab is focused on understanding how […]
Tony Tsai, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of developmental biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named a 2023 Pew Scholar in the Biomedical Sciences. He is one of 22 early-career researchers in the biomedical sciences to receive the honor. The four-year grant will fund Tsai’s investigation into how the cells […]
Microbiome pioneer Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, of Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has won the 2023 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research. The Asturias awards, among the most prestigious honors in the Spanish-speaking world, are presented annually in eight categories. The awards are designed to recognize exceptional scientific, technical, cultural, […]
Jose Moron-Concepcion, PhD, the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council. The council is an extension of the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). […]
Diabetes researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have uncovered at least one reason insulin-secreting cells made from stem cells in the lab don’t work as well as natural cells. The discovery could help speed progress toward making insulin-secreting cells — called islet beta cells — more effective in the treatment of […]
A team led by Washington University in St. Louis has been awarded $1 million over two years from the U.S. National Science Foundation’s Regional Innovation Engines, or NSF Engines, program. The team, called NEURO360, is among some 40 teams nationwide to receive NSF Engines Development Awards, which aim to spur collaborations to create economic, societal […]
Randall J. Bateman, MD, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutic Research. Bateman has been chosen to receive the honor for his groundbreaking work in Alzheimer’s research, including the development of plasma […]
A new drug has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a rare, inherited form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a paralyzing neurological disease. Known as tofersen, the drug has been shown to slow progression of the deadly disease. International clinical trials of tofersen, developed by the global biotechnology company Biogen Inc., […]
Sleep disturbances can be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease. Many people eventually diagnosed with Alzheimer’s start experiencing difficulty falling and staying asleep years before cognitive problems such as memory loss and confusion emerge. It’s a vicious cycle: Alzheimer’s disease involves changes to the brain that disrupt sleep, and poor sleep accelerates harmful changes to […]
Jose Moron-Concepcion, PhD, the Henry E. Mallinckrodt Professor of Anesthesiology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been appointed to a four-year term on the National Advisory Dental and Craniofacial Research Council. The council is an extension of the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). […]
Randall J. Bateman, MD, the Charles F. and Joanne Knight Distinguished Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, will receive the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Award in Alzheimer’s Disease Therapeutic Research. Bateman has been chosen to receive the honor for his groundbreaking work in Alzheimer’s research, including the development of plasma […]
Neuropathologist Sonika Dahiya, MD, a professor of pathology and immunology and the chief of the neuro-oncology section at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named to the Working Committee of the Consortium to Inform Molecular and Practical Approaches to CNS Tumor Taxonomy. The consortium was established under the sponsorship of the International […]
A new study suggests that a common genetic signature may increase a person’s risk of developing substance use disorders, regardless of whether the addiction is to alcohol, tobacco, cannabis or opioids. The research, led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, eventually could lead to universal therapies to treat multiple substance use disorders […]
In this episode, we report on a major international study involving psychiatry researchers from the School of Medicine who are working to identify causes and effects of the early stages of schizophrenia in young people — an illness characterized by significant changes in thoughts, feelings and behavior that may include a loss of contact with […]
Rajendra S. Apte, MD, PhD, the Paul A. Cibis Distinguished Professor in the John F. Hardesty, MD, Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, has received the 2023 Ernst H. Bárány Prize from the International Society for Eye Research. The award, which is given every two years, is presented to a distinguished scientist who has made […]
Timothy Miller, MD, PhD, the David Clayson Professor of Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named a winner of the Rainwater Annual Prize for Outstanding Innovation in Neurodegenerative Disease Research. The prize recognizes scientific progress that could lead to innovative, effective treatments for neurodegenerative diseases associated with the accumulation […]
William A. Peck, MD, former executive vice chancellor and dean of Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, died peacefully, surrounded by family, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023, at his home in St. Louis County, Mo. He was 89. The first to hold the positions of both executive vice chancellor and dean at the university, […]
Teen mental health was in crisis before COVID-19. Persistent feelings of hopelessness and sadness almost doubled over a 10-year period ending in 2019, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Also during this time, attempted suicide and thoughts about suicide skyrocketed among U.S. high school students. And then came 2020. “The […]
In this episode, we head to the emergency department. Doctors in most emergency departments around the country are dealing with fewer COVID-19-positive patients than before, but they continue to be faced with a different epidemic of sorts: the 20% to 30% of patients with dementia-related cognitive issues who seek emergency care. As the U.S. population ages, […]
Dear School of Medicine community: I am writing to let you know that, in consultation with Chancellor Martin and School of Medicine leadership, I’ve made the decision that we will no longer submit data to U.S. News & World Report (USNWR) to support their “best medical schools” survey and ranking. This decision has been a […]
Jeffrey I. Gordon, MD, the Dr. Robert J. Glaser Distinguished University Professor and director of the Edison Family Center for Genome Sciences & Systems Biology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named this year’s recipient of the Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. The honor recognizes Gordon’s groundbreaking studies of the […]
In this episode, we learn more about one of the leading problems associated with long COVID-19. Those who have been infected with the virus are at increased risk for a range of neurological conditions in the first year after an infection. Research conducted at the School of Medicine and the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health […]
People with a condition known as dry eye disease are more likely than those with healthy eyes to suffer injuries to their corneas. Studying mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that proteins made by stem cells that regenerate the cornea may be new targets for treating and preventing […]
Fentanyl, a powerful opioid pain reliever, is the leading cause of overdose deaths in the United States. With the aim of improving the drug’s safety profile to make it less lethal and addictive without eliminating its ability to alleviate pain, a team of researchers, led by scientists at the Center for Clinical Pharmacology at Washington University School […]
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began almost three years ago, scientists have learned that an initial infection can lead to short- and long-term health risks affecting nearly every organ system in the body. They’ve also determined that people can get COVID-19 a second or a third time, despite acquiring natural antibodies after the first infection and […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have received a five-year, $11.7 million grant to study human genes and nerve cells to better understand how cells transmit pain and to identify new ways to treat it. Washington University will be one of a handful of sites participating in the Precision Human Pain […]
New research provides clues to falling fast asleep – or lying wide awake. Studying fruit flies, the researchers found that brain neurons adapt to help the flies stay awake despite tiredness in dangerous situations and help them fall asleep after an intense day. The findings, from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and […]
At birth, the children appear healthy. But within a few years, toddlers and young children with infantile Batten disease, a rare but fatal brain disorder, succumb to blindness, seizures, dementia and become unable to walk. No cure exists, and most die in early childhood. But new research in animals by scientists at Washington University School […]
Scientists have identified a handful of gene mutations that cause or contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease. But many scientists suspect that other DNA changes may help drive Alzheimer’s-related damage to brain cells and lead to symptoms of confusion and memory loss experienced by patients. In particular, the researchers want to understand how segments […]
Carlos Cruchaga, PhD, has received a 2022 Zenith Fellow Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. The annual award is given to scientists who have made significant contributions to the field of Alzheimer’s disease research and are likely to make additional, substantial contributions in the future. Funding attached to the fellowships also helps support high- risk, high-reward projects in […]
Using demographic information, brain imaging test results and genetic biomarkers, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed an algorithm that can help provide people who volunteer for studies of aging with information about the risk each faces of developing dementia due to Alzheimer’s disease. Published Sept. 30 in the Journal […]
Ryan Emenecker, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has won the 2022 Regeneron Prize for Creative Innovation. The $50,000 prize recognizes excellence and creativity in young biomedical scientists who have potential to make scientific breakthroughs. Emenecker studies intrinsically disordered proteins — shape-shifting proteins with no defined structure — […]
Cynthia E. Rogers, MD, the Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and director of the William Greenleaf Eliot Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been named an Emerging Leader in Health and Medicine Scholar by the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). As a crucial part of NAM’s Emerging […]
Catherine Lang, PhD, professor of physical therapy, of neurology and of occupational therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, has been awarded a MERIT award from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The award will support five years […]
Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis (WashU Medicine) and BJC HealthCare are joining forces and partnering with CuriMeta, a new company that will accelerate lifesaving research in the fight against chronic and acute diseases that impact our communities. WashU Medicine and BJC HealthCare are engaging in this venture to bring sophisticated data sets in support of […]
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found a new druggable pathway that potentially could be used to help prevent Alzheimer’s dementia. Amyloid beta accumulation in the brain is the first step in the development of Alzheimer’s dementia. Scientists have poured countless hours and millions of dollars into finding ways to […]
Woven into the design of the Neuroscience Research Building under construction on the Washington University Medical Campus is an intangible yet still very real pillar deemed as important as the 6,500 truckloads of concrete used to reinforce the high-rise. The pillar is a holistic philosophy of diversity, equity and inclusion integrated throughout the planning and construction of […]
Cynthia E. Rogers, MD, has been named the new Blanche F. Ittleson Professor of Psychiatry and director of the William Greenleaf Eliot Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Her appointment was announced by Eric J. Lenze, MD, the Wallace and Lucille Renard Professor and head of the Department of […]
Renée Shellhaas, MD, has been named associate dean for faculty promotions and career development at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. She comes to the school from the University of Michigan, where she is an associate chair for career development and a pediatric neurologist. She begins her new role in October. Shellhaas also […]
Carlos Cruchaga, PhD, a pioneer in the use of human genomic data to understand and elucidate the biology of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, has been named an inaugural Barbara Burton and Reuben M. Morriss III Professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Cruchaga was installed by Chancellor Andrew D. Martin […]
The American Society of Hematology has honored John Atkinson, MD, the Samuel Grant Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, for his significant contributions to the field of hematology. He is one of two recipients of the Ernest Beutler Lecture and Prize and is recognized for breakthroughs that have advanced understanding […]
Most of the 40 million Americans who smoke cigarettes say they want to quit, and some move to e-cigarettes as a step toward quitting. However, a growing number of such people become dual nicotine users: They smoke traditional cigarettes and vape e-cigarettes, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found. Rather […]